Alira Saphi-Melodiin
SPOILER ALERT! Alira Saphi-Melodiin Datringlin is a royal Water Spirit with the Gift. She is the Leader of the Moonhunters and the Divine One of the Prophecy of Six. Her close friends are Silvrê, her half-sister and deputy, Sarilan, her advisor, Ziya, Içerisinde, Plitę, Vrana, and Išiq. Alira's true name is "river". Overview Wise, powerful, agile, and kind, Alira was born with the Gift. She is able to fully manipulate all the elements, has unlimited magic, and can do sorcery, making her an unofficial sorceress with not only the ability to summon Eternal Flame, etc., but able to summon balls of ice and ice shards to lob them at enemies. She is gradually becoming able to touch fire without getting burnt, like a Fire Spirit, and to withstand subzero temperatures, like an Ice Spirit. Silvrê often complains that Alira has too much potential and says that she can't teach her everything that she should be able to do. Alira just smiles, knowing that Silvrê is actually a lot more powerful than she realizes. Not Surprisingly, she excels at hunting. The word "alira" in the Forgotten Language of Truth means "ocean". Her full name, Alira Saphi-Melodiin means "Ocean Sapphire Melody". Often, Alira uses the word, "adern" to channel magic, because "adern" means "magic" in the forgotten language of truth. Oddly enough, she uses the word, "ardlyn" which means "river" while summoning her symbol which is two lines that look like ocean waves and a river. Her true name is "Riivr" which means "river" in the Forgotten Speech of Truth, which explains why she uses the river when she channels magic. Physical Description tall, slender, elegant, and willowy, Alira is strikingly beautiful, strong, and nimble. She has long, flowing dark blue hair, with silver and black streaks, that is usually pulled back into a practical braid, like Sarilan. The braid is tied off with a blue and silver ribbon with a jewel in the center, which is usually her shield in it's compact form. Her large, piercing, flashing, fierce, but gentle almond-shaped eyes are a shining, sparkling dark sapphire blue with silver, aquamarine, and black flecks. With smooth Olive skin, Her features are delicate, but astoundingly capable. She has small, dainty ears, a high, pointed, but pretty nose, and incredibly long, slender, nimble fingers that are quite strong. With a long neck and defined cheekbones, she looks slight, and almost like a swan. Her face is stunning and timeless - she could be 179 or 97. However, Alira's actual age is 124. In the mortal world, she turns her hair raven-black or ebony in sunlight and her eyes to a dark blue, so dark it could pass off as black except in direct sunlight. Personality Though just a little older than her half-sister Silvrê and the second youngest of the Moonhunters, Alira is authoritative, perhaps because she is royal and was destined to be Queen (though she relinquished her claim on the throne upon becoming leader of the Moonhunters) as well as incredibly mature and responsible for her age. Surprisingly knowledgeable and intelligent, Alira prefers wisdom and battle strategies to brute strength, very similar to her half-sister and her closest friend, Sarilan. A great strategizer and diplomat, She is generally kind to all, animals, mortals, and Elementals alike. Alira is a very wise and clever girl. She has a passion and love for reading scrolls, which most Elementals can't understand unless they are a scholar or Silvrê or Sarilan, and often makes references to them, being that very clever Elemental that she is. Alira is stern, but fair and merciful. She is selfless and will sacrifice herself for another. Often, she doesn't tell others of pain that she is feeling to spare others of worrying. Fiercely compassionate, she worries more for others than herself as well as gives Sage advice. She sometimes keeps her face in an unreadable mask, often during battle, which matches her calm and controlled outer image, though her mind is quick and sharp. The only one that truly understands her is Silvrê and perhaps Sarilan, her closest friend. Silvrê, to her, is her sister, which is closer than a friend. But, no one actually understands Alira. She keeps her secrets, being very secretive and mysterious, and says, "Spoilers!" sadly to anyone who asks of the future that she was told by a prophet of another galaxy. She alone knows of the Moonhunter's future and herself, resulting in a very self-controlled girl who never let's her feelings show, especially when it regards to the Moonhunters and their, and her, destiny. Her face is often drawn, as she knows information that greatly saddens her, but that she cannot tell. Many are often thrown by her verbal trickery, often being witty and clever. She survives surprisingly well in the wild, although she was brought up in a castle. Strong-willed and stubborn, Alira doesn't give in easily and will stand by what she believes. Quite resourceful, Alira is perfectly fine with adapting to new environments. Weapons Her weapon of choice is her long, thin, flexible, magic sword, Îlînc. It is an aquamarine and sapphire blue that glints silver in the sunlight. Magic embedded into the sword lets Alira be able to hold onto Îlînc, even if a disarming maneuver is used. Îlînc's moonstone hilt has the symbols of a royal water Spirit, but also has a silver moon, the symbol of the Moonhunters. Îlînc's aquamarine scabbard has a fierce moon dragon design made from silver and sapphires. Around the dragon are moons of all phases made from moonstone. Ringing the edges of the scabbard are royal water spirit designs. She also uses a silver-white, slender, birchwood bow and maplewood arrows, which she excels at using, as well as a concealed knife that can be used with poison. With îlînc, she occasionally uses a maplewood or adamant enchanted shield, but not very often and usually only when she is required to in battle training. Her shield has a snarling moon dragon engraved on it, the Bond of the legendary water spirit Queen Cilalan. It's compact form allows it to become a jewel in the ribbon that Alira ties off her braided hair with. Clothing As Leader of the Moonhunters, she wears a silver moon circlet with precious gemstones from each element. Being a Moonhunter, she wears the standard outfit with a hint of water spirit-Silver and white clothes with blue swirling designs. The clothes are able to morph between a swimsuit and warm, dry clothing. She often adds an extra twist to the standard outfit though. In addition to the usual moon, she also adds swirling nebulas, stars, and spinning planets like a galaxy. When the weather is chilly, Alira wears her silver cloak with intricate, swirling aquamarine and sapphire designs on the hems. Underneath her cloak is her tunic and leggings which she wears with her leather hunting boots or silver slippers, which prompts her to be unusually quiet and stealthy, even for a Shadow Spirit. She wears a fur-lined parka during the winter (or in the ice kingdom), when it's really cold, almost freezing everyone except for Içerisinde, who really seems to enjoy it and wears nothing except her tunic. For formal occasions mortal realms, Alira wears a stunning long silk dress. It rises to around mid-calf and though tight, it is actually very practical in pursuits and fighting. It is long sleeved, as to better conceal all the weapons and poison Alira carries in hidden pockets. It is different shades of blue, being aquamarine at the base, then rising to sapphire, then at last, midnight blue which covers a good portion of it. On the dress is a perfect, exact imitation of the universe, which doubles as an excellent map. Silver stars, planets, and nebulas dot the dress, turning Alira into the midnight sky. Hemmed in wave designs, it gives one the impression that they are looking at the midnight sky being reflected upon ocean waves. Once, when asked what a brightly gleaming star on her collarbone was, she replied, "Raxicoricofallapatorius. But you won't understand what that means." She was right. No one did. In the mortal realms, she usually wear dark blue jeans with silver swirling, or moon, designs (that she would create) on the bottom hem and a tight blue and/or silver t-shirt with wave designs, or something related to the night sky, like the moon or stars with a silver or leather belt. Alira usually hates high heels and refers to them as "wobbly, unpractical Mortal torture contraptions that everyone seems to love". Instead, to both formal and non-formal occasions alike, she wears tall boots (usually leather) that actually are practical. While the others usually hide their weapons, Alira just hangs Îlînc on her belt, conceals her knife, and slings her bow and quiver of arrows over her shoulder all while turning them invisible with a simple glimmer spell. Often, she is thought to be a wealthy, elegant young lady because of the actual, precious gems that dot her clothing. Little do they know that she really just summons them with a bit of magic. Her bow is usually slung over her shoulder, the quiver of arrows on her back, and Îlînc on her leather belt around the floaty silver tunic. Her hair ribbon is silver with sapphire designs, aquamarine swirls, and an Ocean Cyrstal is set into it that is her enchanted shield in its compact form. As Datringlin, Alira has a necklace with a water spirit star pendent that marks her as royalty. Like all the Moonhunters, Alira wears earrings that are made of silver, aquamarines, and sapphires. Animal Forms All Moonhunters can shapeshift into a wolf, but as leader, Alira can shapeshift into any wild animal. Her Alpha wolf form is a large, lithe, strong, silver-white wolf with sleek, shining fur that looks like starlight and diamonds. Her tail tip, paws, muzzle and tips of her ears are a dark, misty, sparkling gray. Her eyes are dark blue with silver flecks. A silver crescent on her muzzle marks her as leader and Alpha. As the shimmering gray travels up her tail, it turns into a night-black at the very tip. Her other common forms are a Phoenix, a leopard, tiger, or ocelot, or a dolphin or a bird. As a Phoenix, Alira is slender, graceful, and a dark sapphire blue color that fades into a ruby at her tail. Her glossy feathered head is starts as a dark sapphire blue, her body slowly turns into an aquamarine, the base of her tail is amethyst, then the tip of her long tail is ruby, like a sunset, or sunrise. Sarilan likes to tease Alira about being the perfect image of twilight and dawn, depending on where the sun rises from. She has silver streaks along her tail and the crescent on her forehead. Her eyes are a pretty, deep, blue, like aquamarine and sapphire combined and black, white, and silver flecks ringing her pupils. As an ocelot, Alira is golden, small, sleek, and lithe. Her cloud-like spots are silver-white and she has sparkling emerald eyes. She also has a shining silver moon on her forehead. As a leopard, Alira is large, nimble, silky, supple silver-white with golden spots ringed with dark gray. Her eyes are an ice-blue with a glowing silver moon one her forehead. As a tiger, Alira is considered average-size, though unusually graceful and agile. Her lustrous pelt is a gold-amber color with silver eyes and so many aquamarine and Saphire flecks they almost look blue. Her spots are a glossy ebony-black ringed with a dark brown color and has a gleaming silver-white moon on her forehead. Occasionally, she becomes an owl, the wisest of birds. As an owl, she is a mottled red-brown, light brown, and ebony with glimmering amber and gold eyes. In bird form, she prefers to be an owl, the wiset of birds, or a kingfisher, one of the fastest, though one of the smallest of birds. When underwater, she often turns into a glistening silver dolphin. As always, she has a glimmering silver-white moon on her forehead or snout, though she can easily conceal with a bit of sorcery magic when trying to disguise or hide herself. Bonds Alira's Bond is a fishing cat. The fishing cat named Yinzalî, or wisdom in the Forgotten Language of truth, is small, silver with golden tabby stripes and ice-blue eyes. She is cheeky, amusing, and acts grumpy, though she is actually kind-hearted and wise. Family and Friends Her long-time friend is Sarilan, though she has become very close with Silvrê, her half-sister, and Ziya, the hilarious yet sympathetic Light Spirit, as well as Içerisinde, the at first distant and cold ice spirit, but later a kind friend. She even likes Vrana, though she is a bit too prideful and stuck-up. A bit distant with the two fire spirits, she is on her way to friendship, though the two elements naturally repels each other. Sometimes, Alira thinks that the two fire spirits are much too mischievous and wild, opposite of her own calm attitude. She is quite close with Song, showing great concern and willingness to sacrifice themselves for each other, although Alira was slapped once by the short, frizzy-haired time-traveler. Alira is an only child, though she does have a long-lost half-sister. Her mother is Queen Atlama, the current Queen of the water spirits, making Alira a datringlin, or princess and heir to the throne. She gave up the throne when she became the leader of the Moonhunters. Her father was the half-clan (water and shadow) ambassador between the Water And and shadow spirits. After a mission, he never returned. When Silvrê asked for Alira's full name for the Leader's Ceremony, she found out that they were half-sisters. Death and After Death The Elemental Songs must be contained, else they would destroy the world with its unleashed power. Of course, the Elemental Songs can be used by releasing the slightest but of its power to create the Elemental Circlets, but must be contained almost immeadiatly afterwards. After research, Alira knew that the Elementals Song must be contained inside a life form with enough power. But, even at the beginning, she knew that the only one with enough power to contain the Elemental Song would be her, which ultimately would lead to her death, though perhaps Song might be able to contain it too. The short time-traveller was much more than she seems. But it turned out that the Elemental Song only could be contained by an pure-blood Elemental, which Song was not. Immeadiatly after the final battle, Alira contained the Elemental Song, dying in the process. The. Moonhunters, Silvrê, Sarilan, and Ildîrîm especially, begged her not to do it, Silvrê offering contain it herself. Song nodded sadly, encouraging her, as she knew it was the only way. But it wouldn't work if anyone but Alira did it. After her death at sunset, the Moonhunters placed her body on a wooden boat, courtesy of Sarilan, and set it adrift in the middle of the ocean. Above Alira's body, the Moonhunters and Song together lit Alira's body on fire. The ashes, surprisingly, didn't sink into the depths of the ocean, but instead floated into the air, becoming a sparkling dust that shimmered softly before becoming part of the air. The wind blew it to the farthest corners of the world and it slowly settled over everything. The sunset was the most beautiful ever seen and the moon was large and glowed with a brightness unseen before. When Silvrê was about to become crowned Leader of the Moonhunters, Alira reappeared in the novel as a glowing spirit with a simple silver circlet and a long white dress with her ebony hair unbound. She explained that after her death, The Lord of the heavens made her a Goddess, with the power of all the Elementals and infinite magic with no limits. And, she is the official patron goddess of the Moonhunters as well as immortal. Queen or Lady Alira, she is now called. She performed Silvrê's ceremony as Sarilan was chosen as Deputy. Technically, she has more power over the Moonhunters than Silvrê, because she is the patron goddess, but Alira chooses to let Silvrê make all decisions and just give advice and assistance, as she greatly trusts her half-sister to lead fairly and wisely. Other Information Alira is actually a quarter Shadow Spirit, which is why she has excellent stealth, though the only physical characteristics of a shadow spirit are the black flecks in her eyes and the raven-black streaks in her hair. She is unable to work shadow powers before she is trained in her Gift. It also explains why Alira often uses stealth and can be hidden easily in shadows, as if she were melting into the shadows like a shadow spirit. However, she isn't actually melting into the shadows, she is just very well hidden. She can also see in the dark much better than other water spirits and Elementals (except Shadow Spirits) in general. Real World Connections The author had based every character very loosely off a close friend of hers while letting them help decide some of their character's traits and preferences. Alira is based off of no one, but very slightly off Mulan Jiang, the author.